Theos-Talk Archives (January 2009 Message tt00218)

Dear Paul and friends

My views are:

I am happy to read this email.

My views are, that I myself aught to be better at formulating myself, so not to be disrespectuful to those who for some reasons are lacking the open compassionate heart, that makes them immune in letting themselves being hurt when reading disrespectful words written in e-mails.
I will work on it.

I will how ever also refer to what H. P. Blavatsky said in the book The Key to Theosophy.
Because it is here I find a great difference between theosophists and a great number of those would-be spiritual groups around the globe.


H. P. Blavatsky said in the Key to Theosophy:

"IS IT NECESSARY TO PRAY?

ENQUIRER. Do you believe in prayer, and do you ever pray?


THEOSOPHIST. We do not. We ACT, instead of talking."

http://www.phx-ult-lodge.org/aKEY.htm#p66

The word is emphasized by me and HPB.


M. Sufilight



  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: kpauljohnson 
  To: theos-talk@yahoogroups.com 
  Sent: Thursday, January 08, 2009 10:23 PM
  Subject: Theos-World Taking offense, seeking revenge


  Greetings.

  During the runup to the November election, an article appeared in 
  Slate that made me think of Theosophists:
  http://www.slate.com/id/2202303/

  Not just the regular dustups here at theos-talk, but also the latest 
  organizational brouhaha in Adyar and Wheston, reminds me that 
  Theosophists are extraordinarily disrespectful to one another. Not 
  just those in one organization attacking those in another, but within 
  the Adyar TS even more so. I wonder if people realize just what kind 
  of impression of the entire movement is created when people snark one 
  another in a public forum like this. Bad enough when mere members do 
  so; far worse when an elected national leader makes a big display of 
  arrogance and aggression.

  Yet at the local level over two decades I never noticed any 
  difficulty whatsoever for Theosophists agreeing to disagree. There 
  was always a great diversity of views in any group I ever attended, 
  in several states. And no one to my recollection got all offended 
  that someone else had a different estimation of various authors. But 
  at the national and international levels there seems to be far less 
  of that live-and-let-live attitude. I renewed my TSA membership 
  after a ten-year lapse in 2008, but was hugely relieved to see it 
  expire last week. 

  The conclusion of the linked article is worth considering here. 
  The "empty boats" notion would be well applied to most of the 
  disputes here. Simply to express one's opinion is to risk personally 
  offending someone else, even if there was no such intention. And the 
  person thus unintentionally offended will often deliberately 
  retaliate with a personal attack, as if the other person's opinion 
  somehow invades their personal space.

  Like any body of literature, the Theosophical writings contain mixed 
  messages. You can use HPB the same way Christians use the Bible, to 
  justify both sides of every dispute. Pedro's quote indicates that it 
  is untheosophical to take offense at differing views and seek revenge 
  on those who express them. Morten's quote indicates that it is a 
  theosophical duty to do so. HPB said both; you choose which HPB to 
  emulate.

  PJ



   

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